We believe in God, the creator of all things, the giver of life and breath.
We believe in Jesus Christ, born Emmanuel, God with us.
He was baptized by John and anointed the most beloved Son of God.
Jesus sought to heal humanity by taking our brokenness upon himself.
Suffering for us, he was crucified, died and was buried.
We believe God raised Jesus from the dead for the sake of all people,
and the promise of eternal life.
We believe the risen Lord will come again, one day.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the inspiring counselor of truth breathed into us and poured out upon us; sent to guide our lives.
We believe in the church, Christ’s body at work in the world.
We believe God is leading us into a new day, ever onward toward the Kingdom of God.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Glorious God, when we read the stories in scripture about so many people experiencing your presence, we try to imagine what their eyes saw, and what they felt in the moment they heard your voice calling out to them. We tend to think of those individuals as chosen, hand-picked by you to see and hear. Help us understand, dearest Lord, that what distinguished the characters in the scripture stories was their response to your call, not any extraordinary physical or mental power. Even if their response was tremulous, nevertheless they followed the path you set for them. When we need it, wake us up from the slumber that fosters a complacent spirituality. Keep us from clinging to the familiar, or to a past that cannot inform or enhance the present. Open our hearts and minds to hear your voice speaking to us in the world of today not yesterday. In the name of the Christ we pray. Amen.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
In my childhood I never missed an episode of Superman and one that has stuck in my mind is the one in which Superman is trying desperately to appease the tribal tempers of jungle ancients, the diamond eye of whose idol was stolen by jungle jewel thieves. Jimmy and Lois’s lives are on the line. Superman gives us a geology lesson as he takes a lump of coal in his hand, submerges it under water and crushes it while saying that a piece of coal under tons of pressure for a thousand years becomes a diamond. When he withdraws his hand from under the water and opens it, he reveals a perfect diamond that is just the right fit for the idol’s eye. It wasn’t magic. Superman simply did what he was capable of in order to save his friends. We are capable of helping our friends, our community and the world through our gifts. Let each of us do what we are capable of.
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